MHR 523 Lecture 2d.docx

MHR 523 Lecture 2
**Normally under most decision making situations, human resource departments have _______ within
the organization.
a) Line authority
b) Functional
c) Empowered
d) Staff
e) Transit
** All the below are common to most human resource departments except
a) Develop job descriptions
b) Establish disciplinary systems
c) Administering compensation systems
d) Ensuring compliance with relevant legal requirements
e) Developing all managerial reports within an organization
Diversity Management
How we manage diversity. People who come from different backgrounds, both visible and not so visible
minority groups.
A diverse workforce requires managers to:
 Understand employees’ varying needs
o Gender(females, work life balance)
o Culture (cultural norms e.g. maintain eye contact to show confidence in Canada,
disrespectful elsewhere)
o People with disabilities(e.g. accommodating those with special needs e.g. ramp)
 Creatively respond by offering flexible management policies and practices
Workplace Diversity
 Includes important human characteristics that influence employee values, perceptions of self
and others, behaviours, and interpretations of events
 People who come from various backgrounds if composed the right way can become successful
 There may be a learning curve associated with people from diverse backgrounds working
together. After they learn about each other’s working methods, a diverse partnership has
proven to work better than one consisting of the same types of people.
Chapter 12: Textbook
Old Boys Network: set of informal relationships among male managers providing increased career
advancement opportunities for men and reinforcing a male culture.
 No women’s perspective
 Friendships and contracts built through the network become the basis for assignments and
promotions.
Glass Ceiling: invisible, but real obstructions to career advancement of women and people of visible
minorities that results in increased turnovers.
**Core Dimensions of Diversity: visible
 age, ethnicity, culture, gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, and capabilities.
**Secondary Dimensions of Diversity: non-visible
 education, status, language and income levels. Managing Diversity
Has three dimensions;
1. Assumes that effective management of diversity and difference among employees can add value
to an organization
2. Diversity includes all types of differences, not just visible ones
3. Organization culture and working environment are key items to focus on in managing diversity.
Salad Bowl: each employee makes a unique contribution to the larger bowl while maintaining his own
individuality and cultural or other identity.
Diversity as a Competitive Advantage
 The most valuable parts of the firm’s operation may be reflected in human tasks of sensing,
judging and making decisions, no one can afford to use human capital inefficiently.
Paradigm Shift
Paradigm Shift: fundamental change in a paradigm (e.g. shift from paper filing systems to electronic
filing systems)
 Mindsets, the way we see things and how things are done
 Diversity mindset (not just the colour of your skin, age) is essential to a business so that various
views are brought up.
 **Traditional
 Standardized
 Diversity is a cost
 Masculine
 Change employee behaviour to suit the organization’s culture
 **New
 Diversity is a competitive advantage
 Rules and policies to satisfy the customer and employee
 Modify organizational culture to suit the needs of the employees
Steps